A significant number of people in the former Kingdom of Bosnia converted to Islam after the conquest by the Ottoman Empire in the second half of the 15th century, giving it a unique character within the Balkan region.
[6] Finally, under Ottoman rule there was significant religious conversion in many directions: many Catholics converted to the Orthodox church and vice versa.
To fill up depopulated areas of northern and western Bosnia, the Ottomans encouraged the migration of large numbers of hardy settlers with military skills from Serbia and Herzegovina.
Some of these settlers were Vlachs, members of a pre-Slav Balkan population that had acquired a Latinate language and specialized in stock breeding, horse raising, long-distance trade, and fighting.
Under the feudal system imposed by the Ottomans, only those who converted to Islam could acquire and inherit land and property, which accorded them political rights, a status usually denied to non-Muslims.
In addition, only Muslims could hold positions in the Ottoman state apparatus, which conferred special privileges and a much higher standard of living.
Merchants found it advantageous to convert to Islam because they gained greater freedom of movement and state protection for their goods as Muslims.
In the later Ottoman period, Bosnia attracted Muslim refugees from lands that were reconquered by Christian powers (mainly Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia).
During the Great Turkish War of the late 1600s, the Ottoman Empire lost control of most of Hungary and portions of the northwestern Balkans.